Down on the farm?

Farming businesses in the United States are still dominated by whites, but Mr. Flores (whose last name means “flowers” in English) is one of a growing number of Latinos who own or operate farms in the country. While the overall number of farms in the United States decreased by 4 percent from 2007 to 2012, during the same period the number of farms run by Hispanics increased by 21 percent to 67,000 from 55,570, according to data released in May from the government’s 2012 census of agriculture. The numbers signaled a small but consistent pattern of growth in agribusiness among Latinos, many of whom have gone from working in the fields to sitting in the head offices.

Many, like Mr. Flores, emigrated from Mexico in the 1970s and ’80s and worked their way up from picking produce to managing the business. They have classic American bootstrap stories of grit, determination and a little bit of luck. Some own the land they till while others rent. Many employ Mexicans whose language and job duties they understand intimately.

So who pays for these Mexicans medical care and schooling for their kids? Those poor, exploited taxpayers?

ThomasHAugust 18, 2014 at 12:40 pm

Why do you think there are bad investments for taxpayers?

deariemeAugust 17, 2014 at 9:35 am

“many of whom have gone from working in the fields to sitting in the head offices”: whenIwasbutalad, farms didn’t have head offices.

andrew'August 17, 2014 at 9:38 am

“Many employ Mexicans…” There is a lot to unpack in there.

BCAugust 17, 2014 at 10:04 am

From the article:

“The majority of Hispanic-owned agricultural businesses are family-run…he employs his daughters to help him run the business…. [The] president of Fernandez Brothers…expects his 19-year-old son to go into the business.

Some of the younger, second- or third-generation Hispanics entering the industry have advanced degrees in agriculture or business.”

Some people would call this the American Dream. Others nowadays would say this is another example of rich CEOs’ children getting all the internship opportunities and educational advantages. When these second- and third-generation Hispanics stay in the same top-quantile income bracket as their parents’, will that be another example of decreasing “income mobility”?

Also, I am confused as to how these farmworkers became presidents of their businesses. Since unions are responsible for all workers’ gains, were these promotions part of some union contract?

so hispanics own roughly 12k more farms, how many is this in relation to the total amount of farms?

HLAugust 17, 2014 at 12:02 pm

(answer in a link, but still lazy writing)

HandleAugust 17, 2014 at 2:35 pm

Even the number of farms is not very informative, since farming operations have vastly different scales. If a Hispanic-owned farm is next to a White-owned one that is 40 times bigger, what sense does it make to say, “Fully half of the farms are Hispanic owned.”

HLAugust 17, 2014 at 4:16 pm

good point

VernunftAugust 17, 2014 at 5:36 pm

Farming is hard, unrewarding work, so we’re condemning these poor Latinos to wage slavery! Right? Oh, that was yesterday; today it’s a good thing. Can I have the Identity Politics agenda for tomorrow, so I know if we’ve always been at war with Latino Farmers?

ThomasHAugust 18, 2014 at 12:45 pm

Perhaps when word gets out about how much each subsidy each vaca receives, the Tea Party will roust itself in righteous Libertarian wrath.

AxaAugust 18, 2014 at 7:06 am

I wonder if mexican’s relationship with GMO’s is different to others. This can be produce land ownership shifts sooner than later.